Formerly known as the downtown area of Edo-Tokyo and main commercial center, the Chuo Ward continues to build on this reputation today. Makes sense to name it Chuo (中央) where both Kanji mean ‘center’.
Ginza shopping street
This street offers a lot of named brands which are all located in tall buildings though not as uniquely shaped as in Omotesando. I did had some problems to find any reasonable priced restaurant though and had to walk a bit out of this area.
Ginza six – shopping mall and rooftop garden
The Ginza Six shopping mall is located at the Ginza shopping street mentioned above and provides a free rooftop garden at the 13.th Floor. Not too high but high enough to get a view above most roofs and has a very calm garden area. For more info and pictures see here.
Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi the bridge is the “Zero mile stone” anchor point for any measurement of distance to and from Tokyo. It is the starting point for many old trails leading to old Tokyo such as the Tokaido trail.As such it started out very early to be a business area and today a lot of tall office buildings decorate that district.
Hamarikyu Garden
Locaeted in the south of the Chuo ward the Hamarikyuu garden is directly connected to the ocean and fills its pond from that water. This area was actually once used as a falconry ground of the Shogun family in the middle of the 17th century. Since 1945 it is under the Tokyo Metropolitian Government administration and is now accessible for a small entrance fee. See more impressions here.
Japanese Stock Exchange
As part of the course Japanese company introduction we visited the Japanese Stock Exchange. It is freely accessible and we were offered a guided tour. In the past it used to be filled with people but nowadays technology took over and there are only some people left monitoring the events. In 2012 the Tokyo Stock Exchange merged with the Osaka Securities Exchange forming the Japanese Stock Exchange which is now the third biggest stock exchange in the world (wiki, 08.11.2019)
